Industry Hills Speedway
The Grand Industry Hills Expo Center
City of Industry, California

2004 Industry
September 22, 2004 - Industry Hills Speedway
By: Ryan Evans

Former World Champion Billy "The Bullet" Hamill returned to the San Gabriel Valley by going undefeated and scoring a Scratch Main Event victory at The Grand in Industry Hills.

Hamill was first to turn one in the Scratch Main, but Shaun Harmatiuk got a good start as well and was right with Hamill as they exited turn two. Harmatiuk found more traction and pulled alongside, then inched slightly ahead of Hamill as a physical battle took place on the back straight. Hamill was able to muscle his way into the lead entering turn three, but Harmatiuk wasn't intimidated and tried to overtake Hamill coming out of turn four. Hamill was able to find enough traction to secure the lead as they entered turn one. Hamill increased his lead to a comfortable margin and was first to the checkered flag. Harmatiuk was second, Charlie Venegas finished third, and Denny Scopellite was fourth.

The first of three qualifying rounds began with Harmatiuk defeating John DeFries and Dukie Ermolenko. Dario Galvin beat Bobby Schwartz in the next race. Hamill showed that he could quickly adapt to a new track by easily beating Denny Scopellite. Venegas closed out the opening round with his first win of the evening.

Hamill started round two with an easy win over Galvin. Ermolenko beat Schwartz in race 18. Harmatiuk made it two for two by defeating Robbie Sauer. Venegas kept pace with Hamill and Harmatiuk with a win to finish the second round.

Schwartz began the final round by handing Venegas his first loss of the evening. Harmatiuk made it three straight wins after beating Brad Sauer. DeFries scored a victory over Steve Murray. Hamill concluded the heats with a win over Ermolenko to maintain his perfect score.

Venegas used a good start in the first semi to earn the win and transfer to the main, while Harmatiuk's second place put him in the main as well. Hamill trapped from the outside and ran away with the second semi and Scopellite finished second to complete the main event field. Ermolenko defeated Galvin and Schwartz for the victory in the Scratch Consolation.

The Second Division Main had a great battle between Mark Baldwin and Tim Gomez for nearly two laps, but Dale Facchini found too much traction on the back straight and took out himself and Gomez in turn three. The red flag came out and Facchini was penalized on the restart. Gomez left little doubt on the second attempt by trapping the field from the outside and running away with the win. Ed Martinez was second, Facchini finished third, and Baldwin was fourth.

Steve Dziadus Jr. was leading the Third Division Main when he went down on the third lap and brought out the red flag. The referee declared that enough laps were complete and awarded the victory to Rohn Zellner. Steve Dziadus Sr. was second, Phil Harmatiuk finished third, Kim Stevens was fourth, and Dziadus Jr. was credited with fifth.

Youth National Champion Ricky Wells didn't allow a 60 yard handicap to prevent him from a victory as he easily worked through the field to win the Youth Main. Dylan Black was second, Joey Holt finished third, and Gino Manzares was fourth.

Next week marks the final week of the 2004 schedule at The Grand. A 23-week schedule has been announced for the 2005 season.

RESULTS
 
Pee Wee Main Event
  7 - Rocco Scopellite
  8 - Braydan Galvin
  6 - Dakota Workman
 77 - Hank Duncan

Youth Main Event
  1 - Ricky Wells                  60
  7 - Dylan Black
114 - Joey Holt
 21 - Gino Manzares             (retired)

Third Division Main Event       (awarded)
163 - Rohn Zellner
212 - Steve Dziadus Sr.
100 - Phil Harmatiuk
197 - Kim Stevens                20
909 - Steve Dziadus Jr.               	(fell)

Second Division Main Event   (restarted)
136 - Tim Gomez
269 - Ed Martinez
301 - Dale Facchini               (penalty line)
115 - Mark Baldwin                (fell, remounted)

First Division Scoring       	1     2    3           T
 11 - Bobby Schwartz           	2     2    3           7
 15 - Dukie Ermolenko          	1     3    2           6
 16 - John DeFries              2     1    3           6
 17 - Robbie Sauer              1     2    R           3
 21 - Brad Sauer              	1     1    2           4
 37 - Denny Scopellite          2     2    1           5
 43 - Charlie Venegas           3     3    2           8
104 - Billy Hamill              3     3    3           9
110 - Jon Stasiefski            2     1    1           4
120 - Skyler Greyson            0     1    1           2
139 - Shaun Harmatiuk   	3     3    3           9
145 - Dario Galvin              3     2    1           6
214 - Steve Murray              0     0    2           2
389 - Nate Perkins              1     0    F           1

Race Results
10: Harmatiuk, DeFries, Ermolenko, Greyson
11: Galvin, Schwartz, Perkins (fell)
12: Hamill, Scopellite, R.Sauer, Murray, 
13: Venegas, Stasiefski (penalty line), B.Sauer
17: Hamill, Galvin, Greyson (fell)
18: Ermolenko, Schwartz, B.Sauer, Murray
19: Harmatiuk, R.Sauer, Stasiefski
20: Venegas, Scopellite, DeFries, Perkins
25: Schwartz, Venegas, Greyson, R.Sauer (retired)
26: Harmatiuk, B.Sauer (fell, remounted), Scopellite (fell)
27: DeFries, Murray, Galvin (fell)
28: Hamill, Ermolenko, Stasiefski, Perkins (fell)
Semi #1: Venegas, Harmatiuk, Galvin, Ermolenko
Semi #2: Hamill, Scopellite, Schwartz, DeFries

Scratch Consolation
 15 - Dukie Ermolenko
145 - Dario Galvin
 11 - Bobby Schwartz
 16 - John DeFries                (fell)

Scratch Main Event
104 - Billy Hamill
139 - Shaun Harmatiuk
 43 - Charlie Venegas
 37 - Denny Scopellite